Men's Swim & Dive Honor Seniors in Final Home Meet

Williams wins 200 butterfly, Jarzen claims the 200 backstroke.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - In the final meet of the regular season, Michigan State swimming and diving celebrated Senior Day by honoring the three Spartan seniors - Mark Gammell, Josh Geschwendt and Jacob Jarzen. MSU fell to the Wolverines of Michigan, 168-61.

"I thought we did very well though," said head coach Matt Gianiodis. "There were a lot of positives that came out of this meet, in particular with relay splits. We had a lot of guys fighting for relay spots and they delivered today, so that was good. It was nice to see Bryan (Williams) and Jake (Jarzen) win. I think more than anything else, we are not going to see a team much better than Michigan. They have a very good team and I thought our guys really handled it well."

Michigan State opened the meet with a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay. The team of junior Sam Schulze, freshman Ian Rodriguez, Jarzen and sophomore Nick Grider turned in a time of 1:31.39.

Rodriguez turned in a second-place finish in the 100 breaststroke, earning a career-best time of 57.63.

Freshman Eric Chisholm was the top finisher in 50 freestyle with a time of 21.49. In the 100 freestyle, sophomore Kyle Workman placed third with a time of 46.78.

Junior Nick Roberts finished third in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:05.56. Roberts also swam a season-best time of 2:05.59 in the 200 breaststroke to place fourth.

Jarzen picked up a win in the 200 backstroke, blowing away the competition to claim the win with a time of 1:48.67. He finished third in the 100 backstroke, clocking in at 50.29.

In the 200 freestyle, junior Jacob Austermann posted a season-best time of 1:42.37 to finish fourth. Freshman Nate Weeks also swam a season-best, placing third in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:53.49.

Junior Bryan Williams claimed an individual win in the 200 butterfly, stealing first-place points from the Wolverines with a time of 1:49.51. He followed up by posting a time of 48.81 to place second in the 100 butterfly.

MSU concluded competition by posting a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. The runner-up team of Williams, Jarzen, Grider and junior Nick McGowan clocked in a time of 1:22.07.

The Spartans will take a two-and-a-half week hiatus from competition as they prepare for the Big Ten Championships in Bloomington, Ind., on the campus of Indiana University. The four-day meet begins on Wednesday, Feb. 27 and concludes Saturday, March 2.